


Points A, B, and C

by nerdswitchblade



Series: Points A, B, and C [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-28
Updated: 2013-09-28
Packaged: 2017-12-27 21:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/983625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdswitchblade/pseuds/nerdswitchblade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stress of the impending apocalypse is wearing Hermann and Newt thin, but despite so often being at each other's throats, they're rather fond of each other. They're also, as it turns out, rather fond of Tendo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Points A, B, and C

They’re toe-to-toe at the line dividing the lab. The line that has once again been broken by the slimy entrails of an otherworldly sea beast. Perhaps on a normal afternoon in the middle of the workweek, Hermann could believe that Newt simply had atrocious aim, and had missed the bin he meant to toss the mucousy bit of kaiju organ into. But it’s late on a Friday night – or rather, very early on a Saturday morning – and Hermann is under a lot of pressure from Marshall Pentecost to tighten up his breach predictions. He’s onto something though, and could reasonably find a stopping place in his work for the night. But for some reason Newt is still in the lab too, his incessant, off-key hum-singing and the squishing of kaiju samples making it impossible for Hermann to keep focused at this late hour.

The splat of kaiju bits hitting Hermann’s side of the room is the final straw. He slams the piece of chalk he had been holding onto the ledge of the black board and turns towards the source of the offense.

“ _Newton_ ,” Hermann growls.

“It was an accident, man, I’ll get it in a sec,” Newt replies without turning around, still wrist deep in whatever foul sample he’d had wheeled in earlier that afternoon.

“You’ve been having a rather suspicious number of ‘accidents’ as of late,” says Hermann. “One might think you were attempting to get a rise out of me, _Dr. Geiszler_. But that, of course, would be _highly unprofessional_.”

At the sound of being called “doctor,” Newt flinches like a child being called by their first and middle names when they’ve misbehaved. He recovers quickly and repeats, this time looking over his shoulder, “It was an accident, I’ll get to it…”

“Get to it _now_.”

At this, Newt extracts his hands and turns to face Hermann, eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?”

With his fists clenched and his best scowl in place, Hermann has walked right up to the lab’s dividing line, but has not crossed into Newt’s side. Though surely, this is not out of respect. “Some of us don’t have the luxury of playing _kaiju veterinarian_ all day,” he seethes. “Some of us have important work to do.”

“Whoa!” Newt squawks, advancing towards Hermann with his slimy gloved hands held up defensively, his voice approaching shrill. “My work is JUST as important as yours!”

“You are not on deadline!” Hermann shouts in Newt’s face. They both still honor the dividing line, but just barely now. “You don’t have any pertinent experiments running! Why are you still here?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Hermann,” Newt says with an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe it’s because I like being around you!”

Clearly, this is not what Hermann had been expecting to hear. His mouth, which had been open and ready to argue back, snaps shut. His jaw tightens and he blinks. “I beg your pardon?”

Newton sighs. “Look dude, I don’t sleep much.” He’s lowered his hands, but still keeps them away from his body so as not to get kaiju gunk on himself. “You remember, I passed out in the lab that one day. But it’s not because I work all hours. I mean, I do work all hours, but I do that because I can’t sleep. Kaiju are fascinating, sure, but the end of the world? Not so much. So I end up here, but the lab’s too quiet when you’re not here, so you working late has been kind of perfect for me.” He shrugs. “Okay, maybe I wanted to get your attention a little with the kaiju guts, but just so you’d talk to me or whatever. I didn’t actually mean to disturb you.”

And just like that, Hermann is no longer on the offensive. His shoulders sag, his fists unclench, and his icy glare melts into a softer, almost sad stare. Newt has only a moment to marvel at the change in Hermann’s usually sharp and stern features before Hermann’s hands are framing Newt’s face and their lips are pressed together.

Newt’s eyes widen and his hands flail at his sides as Hermann puts more force into the kiss, bumping their noses together and pushing Newt back towards his workspace, finally crossing the lab line.

Newt flounders for a moment, deciding whether to return the kiss the best he can off-balance, or to break it to get his bearings. Finally, he exclaims, “Mmm!” and yanks his head away. His glasses are askew, but he can make out the mortified look on Hermann’s face. Hermann feels as if his heart has hit the pit of his stomach and he starts to back away, so Newt frantically shouts, “No, wait!” He finally tears off his latex gloves, shoves his glasses more or less back into place, grabs Hermann by the shoulders with his freed hands, and gives back as good as he got.

This time Hermann is off-balance, being backed over to his side of the lab and into his decidedly cleaner work desk. Once they are somewhat settled there, Hermann gripping the edge of the table behind him with his right hand and ruffling the back of Newt’s hair with his left, and Newt with both his arms wrapped around Hermann’s neck, trying not to push him too hard into the worktop, the kiss turns from frantic to slow and deep.

Newt is in utter bliss. Hermann’s a hell of a kisser and, admittedly, Newt had expected otherwise. Hermann nips at Newt’s lower lip and it’s all Newt can do to not push his hips harder against Hermann’s. But the realization that the arm Hermann has braced against the worktop has begun to shake with the strain of keeping most of the pressure off of his bad leg brings him back to Earth. It takes some effort, but Newt eventually pulls away and rests his hands on Hermann’s shoulders, his fingertips teasing at the edges of his navy blue, cable-knit sweater vest. This is the closest they’ve ever been, physically, except for maybe a few years ago when an accident in the lab had forced Hermann to drag Newt bodily into the emergency decontamination shower. At the time, the searing pain of chemicals eating through Newt’s clothes and skin had taken precedence over the feeling of Hermann’s arms wrapped around him, all his bony angles more prominent through his water-soaked shirt.

Hermann straightens up, but doesn’t let Newt go entirely either. The hand that had been in Newt’s hair slides to the side of his face and he uses his thumb to brush away a smudge of chalk dust he’s left on Newt’s cheekbone. His other hand clutches at the back of Newt’s light, army green button-down shirt.

“I believe I owe you an apology,” Hermann says breathlessly, his eyes cast downward.

Newt squeezes Hermann’s shoulders gently and huffs out a short laugh. “I don’t know man, I’d say that just now was a preeetty good apology.”

Hermann’s eyes meet his and he still has that wide-eyed puppy-dog look that makes Newt wish he didn’t goad Hermann as much as he does. “Look, I’m sorry too,” he says with as much sincerity he can muster before switching gears and saying, “But dude, seriously, where did you learn to kiss like that? That was totally out of left field.”

Hermann fixes him with an annoyed look and good, Newt thinks, that’s more like it. “Honestly, Newton, I am 36 years old, you could at least attempt to mask your shock at the fact that I’ve managed the odd romantic dalliance…”

“Okay, but see, you say things like _the odd romantic dalliance_ , and I mean, the sweater vests and…”

Hermann disengages from Newt and steps around him. “Well done Newton, you’ve managed to spoil the moment.”

Newt makes a frustrated noise and turns to face Hermann again. “I’m not saying you’ve _never_ , but you can’t have very recently…”

“And why not?” Hermann’s arms are crossed, his expression defiant.

“You’re always here! You never…” Newt stops and cocks his head in realization. “Have you been going around macking on other people here in the Shatterdome?”

“Well I’m certainly not out looking for it on the streets of Hong Kong.”

Newt lets out something between a scoff and a laugh and puts his hands on his hips. “So what, I’m just one on a long list of Dr. Hermann Gottlieb’s conquests?”

“Oh, be serious…”

“I’m as serious as a kaiju attack! I thought you liked me, man.”

“I do…”

“Yeah? Me and who else?”

Hermann bristles and instead of answering the question, he splutters, “Well, what about you? You seem rather confident in your… snogging abilities. Who’s keeping YOU in practice, Dr. Geiszler?”

Newt opens his mouth and begins to gesture as he would in response, but he freezes and no words come. He glances upwards as if to choose his next words carefully and suddenly, he looks very guilty. Hermann sneers.

“Oh I see,” says Hermann. “Of course _I_ must be prudish, but you’re free to shove that flapping tongue of yours down anyone’s throat…”

“It wasn’t like that!” Newt exclaims. “It- it just happened one night…”

Hermann scoffs. “Was it one of your…”

“Hermann, if you make a ‘kissing kaiju’ joke I swear to GOD…”

Smirking, Hermann holds his hands up in surrender before crossing his arms once more. “Do go on.”

Newt sighs and rubs the back of his head nervously, averting his gaze. “Okay, so I meant it when I said I don’t sleep much, and that it’s too quiet in the lab when you’re not here.” He crosses his arms now too, and continues to look anywhere but at Hermann. “So a couple of weeks ago, I’d come down here one night to try to get some work done, but I couldn’t, so I went wandering around to see if anyone else was working late. I ended up in LOCCENT and, well…” He considers recounting the whole story, but decides to just get to the point. “I may have sort of… made out with Tendo.”

At last, he looks up at Hermann. He looks surprised, before flushing with anger. “That’s not funny.”

Newt is confused. “It… wasn’t meant to be funny?”

“Did he tell you?” Hermann asks angrily. “Did you have a good laugh?”

“What are you _talking_ about?” Newt still hasn’t caught on. “Look, I went up there, Tendo was working late and he’d spiked a couple of mugs of coffee with whatever booze the Russians managed to bring in and, seriously, have you ever been alone with the guy? He’ll charm the pants right off of you! I mean, it didn’t get that far, but the guy is hot, you have to admit…”

Hermann’s expression is now one of… embarrassment? Newt replays the last thing Hermann said in his head. Did he tell you?

Newt’s eyes widen. “DUDE.” He points at Hermann. “You’ve totally kissed Tendo too, haven’t you?!”

Flustered, but clearly trying to maintain composure, Hermann is now looking anywhere but directly at Newt. “We… had an encounter.”

Newt looks ecstatic. He grabs Hermann’s chair and rolls it over to him before hopping back to sit himself on Hermann’s worktop. “Well come on, dish!”

Hermann doesn’t want to “dish,” but he does pull the chair over and sit in it. “Surely you’ve heard the saying, a gentleman does not kiss and tell.”

“Here’s the thing Hermann: _I’m_ not a gentleman,” he says, leaning forward with his left elbow perched on his left thigh. “You totally don’t have to tell me what happened. I will, however, be forced to use my imagination and, well, I have a very colorful imagination…”

“Yes yes, alright, enough,” Hermann says with a sigh. “One night, two weeks ago, I fell asleep at my desk. It was actually the same day you had passed out in the lab.”

Newt threw his hands up in disbelief. “You sucked face with Tendo while I was lying in the sick bay?!”

“Do you want to know what happened or not?”

Newt resigns. “Please continue.”

“Tendo was walking past the lab and he decided to wake me. As you can imagine, he’s familiar with the physical discomfort that comes from falling asleep at one’s workstation. I was grateful, but remarked that I was already feeling stiff…”

“You dog!” Newt interrupts joyously, swinging his feet excitedly where the dangle off Hermann’s worktop.

“My _neck_ , Newton. My neck was stiff. Do get your mind out of the gutter. So then he offered to…”

“Rub one out?”

“NEWTON.”

“Alright alright, I’m sorry man, it’s just… he gave you a massage? I’m so jealous. His hands, they’re…”

“Rather lovely, yes.”

“And then you just… kissed?”

“Yes well, I rather let my guard down while he was… working on me. With the physical proximity, it just…”

“Happened.”

“Yes.”

There is a pause in the conversation, but with Newt in the room, the silence never lasts too long. “So this… this just happened too.”

“Yes but I…” Hermann blushes and Newt stares expectantly. “I had thought about it before. Thought about… us. I suppose, you work with someone for so long…”

“Yeah,” Newt says, with a small smile that threatens to burst into an all-out grin. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Me too.”

For a moment, Hermann is too relieved to say anything and just smiles back. Newt’s mind, however, has already raced several paces ahead. He bites his bottom lip. It’s probably far too soon to propose something like this, but the idea is already swirling around in his head.

“You have to admit though,” Newt ventures, “Tendo’s, like, a really good kisser.”

“Oh, absolutely.” Hermann agrees without hesitation, so Newt presses on.

“Would you… I mean… you don’t think he’d…”

“Think who’d what?”

Newt’s eyes go wide and Hermann spins in his chair at the sound of a third voice in the conversation. It’s Tendo Choi himself, strutting into the lab holding two steaming mugs. He looks as sharp as ever, with not so much as a strand of his dark hair out of place, despite the very early hour. The red chambray shirt he’s opted for seems too cheery under the circumstances, even though it is accented with dark gray suspenders and a matching gray wool bow tie. His timing is impeccable, Hermann thinks. Either that or…

“Tendo!” Newt says, a little too loudly and a little too high-pitched. “How, uh… how long you been there, man?”

Hermann closes his eyes and purses his lips at Newt’s utter lack of subtlety.

Tendo's lips quirk in what could be a grin or an expression of indifference as he shrugs, coming to a stop next to Hermann. “My ears may have been burning a little.” Before Newt or Hermann has a chance to be properly embarrassed, Tendo continues, “It’s late guys. How are you gonna save the world if you’re not well rested?”

Hermann latches onto Tendo’s rejection of the awkward moment and slips back into his usual character, replying stiffly, “We’re the research division, we’re not exactly fighting on the front lines.”

Tendo rolls his eyes fondly at Hermann’s self-deprecation. “Right. You’re just the guys who coded the first Jaegers,” he hands Hermann one of the mugs, “and are the foremost experts on the kaiju.” He steps over to Newt and hands him the other mug. “Totally unimportant to what happens on the front lines.” He grins at his own mock-dismissiveness, stepping to the side halfway between the two scientists and indicates their mugs. “Chamomile tea. Don’t ask how I got it, just drink up and hit the hay. You two work too hard.”

“Yes, well, one could say the same about you,” says Hermann, taking a sip from his mug.

“Chamomile?” says Newt, looking quizzically into his mug. “Who here would even have anything decaf?”

“Didn’t I just say not to ask? Keep up, Geiszler,” Tendo teases. He manages to tame that wily smirk of his long enough to say, “Look, I know Pentecost’s got you under a lot of pressure. Doesn’t mean you should stop taking care of yourselves.”

Hermann raises his mug in Tendo’s direction. “Your kindness, as ever, is much appreciated Tendo.”

“Yeah man, thanks,” says Newt.

“Any time,” says Tendo. “Well, not any time. World in peril and all. But if you guys ever need anything, let me know and uh…” That smile is back and butterflies begin beating their wings violently in Newt’s stomach. He wonders if Hermann is feeling it too.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Tendo finishes. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my work day starts…” he checks his watch “…seven minutes ago. Later, docs.” And he struts right back out the way he came.

Hermann and Newt watch as he leaves and then turn back to each other, but before they can say anything, Tendo’s footfalls are returning briskly.

“It occurs to me,” he says, heading back towards them, “and forgive me, it must be because it’s first thing in the morning. But I may not have been entirely clear.” He stops at Hermann’s side again, but this time, he bends down, cups the back of Hermann’s head and kisses him full on the lips. Perhaps it’s the soothing effects of the tea, but Hermann goes rigid for only a split second before his eyes flutter shut and he returns the kiss, with enough presence of mind to not upset the mug of tea still in his hands.

The kiss ends all too soon, and Hermann doesn’t even get the chance to enjoy the look of bewilderment on Newt’s face before Tendo has turned to Newt and blocked his view. Tendo carefully removes the forgotten mug from Newt’s hands and sets it on the worktop before sliding his hand into Newt’s already-ruffled hair and kissing him too. Newt hadn’t had a chance to try his tea and, being a black-coffee-with-too-much-sugar type of guy, probably wouldn’t have anyway. But the heat and even the faint taste of the mild tea are now on his tongue and Newt groans because he’s tasting Hermann on Tendo and that’s _so hot_ , he can barely stand it. Before Newt’s body can catch up to his brain and pull Tendo closer, Tendo steps back. Hermann then at least gets to revel in the dazed look Tendo’s left on Newt’s face.

“So again,” Tendo says, “if you _need anything_ , give me a shout.” He clears his throat. “I had meant to play this a little cooler, but for geniuses,” he points first at Hermann, then at Newt, “it sure took you a while to get from point A to point B.” He smiles and can’t help giving them a wink. “But I trust you can both find your way back to point C.”

**Author's Note:**

> Baby's first fic! Hope you enjoyed it. I'm already writing Hermann and Newt's respective first kisses with Tendo that are mentioned here, so stay tuned?


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